Mercy, EMMC announce merger

PORTLAND, Maine (NEWS CENTER) - A healthcare system that primarily covers patients north of Augusta is taking over one of Portland's hospitals. Eastern Maine Healthcare System, which is based in Bangor, has entered into an agreement to buy Mercy Health System of Maine.

This deal replaces a previous deal that fell through between Mercy and a for-profit company in Massachusetts. Eastern Maine and Mercy announced that they were working on the deal in early December. Since then, officials from both organizations say they have done their due diligence in making sure that the deal would benefit both healthcare systems.

Mercy will retain its status as a non-profit healthcare provider. Eastern Maine has also agreed to support Mercy's Catholic healthcare mission.
The presidents of both organizations say the agreement will be good for the future of healthcare in Maine.

The agreement still needs to be approved by the state, the federal government, and the Vatican. That process is expected to take six to nine months.